Safety-stirrup.



H; I. HIGGINSON. SAFETY STIBRUP. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20, 1911.

996,085, Patented June 27, 1911-.

I. II. I'll J] m,

HORACE I. HIGGINSON, F GRAYVILLE, ILLINOIS.

FFTQE.

Serial No. 615,471.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HORACE I. HIGGINSON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Grayville, White county, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Stirrups, of which the following is a specification containing a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to improvements in safety stirrups and has for its object the construction of a device for the connection of a stirrup with its suspending strap secured to a riding saddle, which device, comprises means whereby it may be readily attached to or detached from a stirrup, and. means which may be readily tripped by the foot of the rider to release the stirrup from its suspending strap.

With the above purposes in view my invention consists'in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claims and illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation illustrating my invention as applied to a stirrup; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan of a stirrup with my attachment applied thereto and removed from the stirrup strap; and Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 except that it is on a reduced scale and shows the stirrup detached from its suspending strap.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing: 1 designates the stirrup proper and 2 the spacing block thereof, the stirrup and said block being of ordinary construction.

3 designates the ordinary stirrup strap by which the stirrup is suspended from a saddle. Ordinarily the strap 3 embraces the spacing block 2 and, as a result, the strap 3 was twisted so that its lowermost end stood approximately at right angles to the saddle and often resulted in rubbing or chafing the limb of the rider. Furthermore, for the reason that the strap was secured against ready removal from the stirrup serious and, oftentimes, fatal accidents have happened to the riders whose feet would be caught in the stirrups. My invention comprises a device for overcoming these two serious objections to the ordinary stirrup and its suspending strap.

designates a clamp arranged to be secured to the spacing block 2 of the stirrup by means of the bolt and nut 5. Projecting rearwardly and upwardly from the body of the clamp is a pair of cars 6 in which is pivotally mounted a tongue 7 which is to be embraced by the strap 3 for the suspension of the stirrup. Projecting forwardly from the clamp 4 is a pair of perforated ears 8 in which is pivotally mounted a device for connecting the free end of the tongue 7 to the stirrup, which device is constructed preferably of a single piece of Wire having pivot loops 9, a loop 10, extending to and embracing the free end of the tongue 7, and a loop 11 depending from its pivotalpoint and terminating about centrally of the body of the stirrup 1.

l2 designates a leaf spring carried by the tongue 7 and secured thereto at the forward end of the tongue, the free end of the spring adapted to engage with the loop 10 in such manner as to produce special friction as required to prevent the disengagement of the loop from the tongue by ordinary shocks imparted to the lower end portion 11 of the single wire structure of which the loop 10 is a portion. This spring 12 is not of sufficient strength to hold the loop 10 against movements when it is desired to release the stirrup.

It is to be observed that the tongue 7 stands at a right angle to the spacing block 2, hence the stirrup strap is held in a position with its fiat face against the limb of the rider.

The ordinary use of my improved stirrup is identical with the use of an ordinary stirrup. If, for any reason, the riders foot becomes caught in the stirrup, as for instance if the rider is thrown from the saddle with his foot thus caught, there is danger of the rider being dragged by the horse and, in most cases, the rider is in such position that he can not readily reach his foot to release it from the stirrup. With a stirrup provided with my improved attachment the rider may readily at any time release the entire stirrup from the saddle. This may be accomplished by a movement of the toe of the foot upwardly to contact with the loop 11, of the releasing device, and with a backward pull of the loop 11 disengage the loop 10 from the strap engaging tongue 7 thus freeing the strap from said tongue and permitting the stirrup to fall.

Patented June 2'7, 1911.

I claim: 1. In a safety stirrup, the combination With a stirrup and its suspending strap, of

a stirrup releasing device comprising a clamp to be secured to the stirrup, a pivoted tongue carried by said clamp and arranged to be embraced by said strap, and a pivoted member, one end of Which is arranged to hold said tongue and the other end arranged to project downwardly in a position to be engaged by the foot of the rider.

2. In a safety stirrup, the combination With a stirrup and its suspending strap, of a clamp arranged to be detachably secured to the stirrup, a tongue pivotally secured to said clamp and carried at a right angle to the stirrup, a pivoted member to hold the free end of said tongue and projecting downwardly to be engaged by the foot of the rider, and a friction device carried by'said tongue for engagement with said pivoted member, for the purposes stated.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

HORACE I. HIGGINSON. l/Vitnesses:

JOHN C. l/VHEATcRorT, C. L. GILMORE.

Gopies of thispatent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

